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2015-10-06 - We Need to Talk
Having been deeply involved with some business with the Justice League the last few months, once Clark had finally gotten some down time, he wanted to check in with the family to see how everyone was doing. Having already talked with Kara recently, he texted Connor and Mia and asked them to meet him at the ice cream parlor to hang out. Clark arrives in his usual suit, along with his coat because of the weather, even though it doesn't affect him. Sure it might be weird to be getting ice cream with winter coming around, but stranger things have happened, and despite that, the place does have other people in it. Mia walks in through the door, causing it to ring with the little bell that hangs overhead. She looks up, adjusting her wool scarf so it won't fall off her neck, eyes drawn to the sound. Then she looks around for whoever might be kicking it in this ...what appears to be a nice old fashioned place. "Damn." To kids these days, that doesn't even count as swearing. City girl in glasses. She's wearing jeans and a grey sweater and a brown wool scarf. Which is about as unflattering as it gets. Conner, as always, is dressed a bit more casually, the college aged boy having loosened up a bit since leaving Smallville. He still leans towards long-sleeved shirts, or at the very least ones with their sleeves rolled up, but the clothes are picked a bit more out of style than simply out of how they hold up to the wear and tear of farm life. He spots Mia, and gives a small double take, a dark eyebrow raised over thick rim glasses, the type that have ironically become rather popular and trendy over the last few years. He's a bit more clean-shaven than the average hipster, though. Once Mia and Conner arrive, Clark stands up from the booth he was sitting in. He waves both of them towards him before moving over to Conner first. He hugs the other boy, patting him on the back gently. "Hey, kiddo. How's college life treating you?" He then looks towards Mia, immediately using his x-ray vision to see if she's hurt at all before he gives her a hug as well. "Mia. Thanks for coming. Let's have a seat." He motions towards the booth he was sitting in, which is furthest away from the door and kind of secluded. Once Mia and Conner arrive, Clark stands up from the booth he was sitting in. He waves both of them towards him before moving over to Conner first. He hugs the other boy, patting him on the back gently. "Hey, kiddo. How's college life treating you?" He then looks towards Mia, immediately using his x-ray vision to see if she's hurt at all before he gives her a hug as well. "Mia. Thanks for coming. Let's have a seat." He motions towards the booth he was sitting in, which is furthest away from the door and kind of secluded. "It goes," Conner says, continuing to look with curiosity towards Mia as he takes a seat, snagging the interior spot. Mia is healthy as a horse, according to Kryptonian-vision. If anything she's in better shape than the last time she met either of the boys. She has increased muscle mass all over, and her kryptonian matrix seems to be settling. Slowly. Watching Clark hug Kon, she raises her eyebrows a second, then takes a seat where she's indicated. If they're going to be gentlemen, she can be a lady. "I don't get asked out by two cute guys often. Even if one of them is staring at me awkwardly." She winks to take the bite out of the comment, and puts her hands in her lap. Mia didn't react too much to the hug, not really sure where to go with that yet. Clark looks from Conner to Mia and then back to Conner. "I take it you two haven't met yet?" He then looks at his son first. "When was the last time you spoke to Kara?" He asks before pushing his glasses up onto his nose. It's an unconcious thing, one of the many tricks he's learned over the years as Clark Kent. "Not too long ago. Something about... a motorcycle riding cat? And a plant monster? It was weird even by my standards," Conner admits, and glances to Mia, then back to Clark, raising an eyebrow. "We... kinda met once, at a club, I think." He tries to convey, through facial spasms alone, that 'a club' is 'Titans Tower' and that he was in his other suit when they met. Mia pats Conner's hand with her own smaller one, giving him a faint grin. "It's odd, but once I noticed that thing with Clark and the glasses, I kind of figured your similar ....I'm not making sense to me either." She frowns, scrunching up her face for a moment. "Trying again. Met, but not 'met'." She air quotes with her fingers. Then lays her head back to stare at the ceiling, mentally berating herself for lacking anything like intelligible speech. Clark raises both brows at Conner. So they haven't 'met' yet. Which Mia actually confirms for him. Instead, he comments to Conner. "She knows about me. I told her." He looks at the table top. "I'm not exactly sure how she came about. But I know that she's half kryptonian, but she's not a clone." He shrugs slightly. "There's so few of us left...I was maybe thinking that we could get to know each other a little better." He sits back and rubs his eyes under his glasses. "Sorry. I'm still getting used to being back here. The Kree Empire had an armada on the outskirts of the solar system. Some of us gave chase as he drove them off and it took us awhile to get back..." "Ah," Conner says, glancing to Mia. "And... yeah, I had been kinda wondering about that myself," he admits, and looks Mia in the eyes, though, with his sample size, blue doesn't really tell him anything definitive. Mia lifts her head back up so her blue eyes can rejoin the conversation. "What's a Kree?" she asks automatically, since she has no idea what she is herself and isn't really sure what to say. Then with her five or six active brain cells, she stops and holds out her hand to Conner. "I'm Mia. Cira Mia Walkers to the government, adopted. Which is way more uncomfortable than I'd planned it to be when I said it in my head." Clark smiles at Mia. "An alien race from another galaxy. Humanoid with blue skin. They are at war with a race called the Skrull, who are shapeshifters. Earth is a good position for both worlds to attack the other, so they are constantly trying to take over here. There's more, but that's just the basics. You can review the Oracle files for the full details." He looks at Conner then. "Mia is a perfect blend of human and kryptonian DNA. She has no idea where she comes from. The working theory is that she might be a descendant of either myself or Kara. It's all guesswork at this point, but the fact is that she's here and she wants to help. Kara has been tutoring her in the use of her powers...which reminds me." He turns back to Mia. "How is that going?" "Conner Kent," Conner says, taking the hand. "You probably remember the rest." He looks to Clark, then back to Mia. "That's... not easy to do," he admits. "Though... can Kryptonians even," a vague hand gesture, "with humans the old fashioned way? If she's half, it'd have to be first generation, right?" Every so often, the scientist legacy shines through. Mia lets Conner take her hand, then goes back to le conversation at hand. She frowns a tiny bit as she's discussed. "She, is right here. I mean...nevermind, nothing." She trails off a bit, then comes back with a halfhearted, "I get beat up a lot," as she pointedly blushes at the idea of what Kon's trying to get across. Not even trying to touch that one. "I ...think I met a Skrull." Clark smiles at Mia. "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to discuss you as if you're not here. I just wanted Conner to know the situation, that's all." He reaches out and places his larger hand on hers, patting it gently for a moment. "I also heard that you fended off Mongul while I was away. That..that is extraordinary. I lost to him once..." He frowns slightly. "..I guess your training is paying off. I'm very proud of you." Another smile and he looks back to Conner. He spreads his hands. "Have to be. Though I'm not sure of what might be possible in the future. I don't age like humans do, so it's possible that Lois may not even be a factor in this." He pauses. "Or in Kara's case, that metahuman boyfriend of hers might be the cause. Like I said, we're not sure. But I'm sure the answer to that will be revealed in time." He grins. "Being half kryptonian yourself, I figured that you two might have a lot in common." Conner looks to Mia, and nods, giving a little smirk as he jokes, "Just... don't start calling me Uncle Kon, and I think we'll be good. Actually, point of curiosity, any powers not in the normal Kryptonian set?" he asks, putting a hand on the table and making a little container of sprinkles slide across slightly, enough that someone seeing it out of the corner of their eye might think they were mistaken. Mia is kind of looking down at her hands. Has been ever since Clark complimented her a moment ago. A long breath, and she says, "No. No special powers. Don't even have some of the normal ones. I didn't..." she pauses, then sighs and looks up. "I didn't fend off ...that was his name? Mongul? It was in all the news, all I did was get my face punched in. Twice. Kara showed up or I'd be literally dead." Clark shakes his head at Mia. "The point is that he didn't kill you. And you didn't let any innocents get hurt. There is no shame in accepting help. That's why the Justice League was founded. So that we have friends to call upon in situations where one of us is overwhelmed. I need help sometimes, too." He smiles at her again. "I've taken my fair share of beatings too. Even died once. We're not perfect, no matter how many powers we have." He winks. "So hold your head up. You didn't fail. My previous comment stands. I'm proud of you, Mia." He says it with an air of finality. He leans back in his seat. "In some ways Conner is still adjusting to our lifestyle. He even filled in for me for awhile when I was having some...personal issues. Right, Kon?" "Same difference," Kon tells Mia. "Listen, take it from another half-Kryptonian, there's some of dad's baddies you're doing well if you get your tail kicked long enough for the cavalry to arrive. Doomsday shows up? You cheat. You use every trick you've got to survive and keep others safe." He looks to Clark. "Which time. The time nobody took me seriously, and there were 3 other guys calling themselves Superman, or the other one? I'm also about the only one you can actually say is a 'born' superhero." Mia sits quietly and thinks a little. She obviously is newer to this hero business than either of the boys. Still, she doesn't stare at the tabletop looking dejected for long. Maybe relaxes a little after a moment, perhaps a bit of a smile. Then, when she's ready, she says a quiet, "Thank you." Probably to both of them. Which is kinda ridic considering she's stupidly powerful. Which is what she tells herself, as she straightens up and looks them in the eyes. "I think I do have one power that's new, actually. I kind of power up if I'm in the direct sunlight. Like, ..actually seriously power up. A lot. And it heals me near instantly." Clark asides to Kon. "The latest time. You know when I got stupid and quit being Superman. Worst mistake ever. But you covered for me while I came to my senses, son. I really appreciate that." He smiles and then looks at Mia, his brows raising. "Seriously? I mean, we all get stronger the longer we're in the sun. But for it to happen rapidly like that means that you metabolize sunlight much more efficiently than any of us, including Kara. That's..awesome!" He looks at Conner. "If Mia really is a descendant, perhaps it means that we, as a race, are evolving. Or it could mean that in it's own way, the Kryptonian/human hybrid can potientally be stronger than a pure blood?" It's the scientist in him. The whole family has an affinity for it, due to their parents. "Good news for me, then," Conner says. "It... could be a lot of things. I'd..." he looks around the ice cream parlor. "Well, I'd want a more involved conversation than should probably happen here," he admits. He shrugs, and leans to make a show of looking over the menu. Mia rolls her eyes at the whole thing, then reaches up and plucks a hair off of her head. Then another. She slaps them down (carefully) on the table in front of each boy and says, "Go nuts, maybe one of you scientists can figure out how to decipher this DNA code. I mean, STAR labs has one, and -apparently-," said with enough sarcasm to be coming from a teenaged mouth, "they think it's the most important thing in history or something. Guys, seriously, I'm a freakjob on ice. My parents found me in someone's garbage pod. If I'm the castoff, shouldn't you be worrying about the ones they kept?" Then she pauses, and goes a little pale. "Uh. Never actually thought about that angle before this exact moment. That's actually kinda terrifying." Clark frowns at Mia before looking at Kon. "I think you're right. Let's change the scenery. Meet me on the roof of the Daily Planet." He says as he rises to his feet. After pushing his glasses up onto his nose. "I think the three of us have a lot to discuss." He looks at Mia for a long moment, perhaps her comment causing him to worry just a bit. Mia sits quietly for a minute berating herself for yelling at Superman and Superboy. Again. Girl, you are ...seriously not doing this right. Kon pats Mia on the shoulder before vaulting over her to get to the door. He heads out and kind of vanishes after turning a corner. Soon, Superboy, dressed in the more 'casual' costume of jeans and a T-shirt, is sitting on the ring of the Daily Planet globe. Mia sits, looking at herself in the reflection in the window for a moment. Long breath. Then she tells herself, "Well. That could have gone better." Stopping to splash some water on her face, she slips out without ordering anything she couldn't afford anyway, and is... The last to arrive. Of course. Wearing the full-suit outfit with the slightly stylized 'S' on her chest and the full pants and long sleeves, she flies up to the Daily Planet as she tries to keep a smile on her face. It's going to be a long, long day. Clark is already there, in his full uniform. He floats next to Kon with his arms across his chest. Once Mia arrives, he states. "We can speak more freely here. There's one thing I want to clear up before we get started." He points a finger at Mia. "You, young lady, are NOT garbage. No matter how you were found, or in what condition, you are important. You're important to your adoptive parents, you're important to ME. Maybe you were thrown away, maybe that's just all they could find to put you in. It doesn't matter. You are here, with us. So no more talk about stuff like that, okay?" He sighs a little and then looks at Kon. "Like I was saying earlier. We've never dealt with a hybrid like Mia before. There is no way to gauge what kind of abilities she might eventually possess. I mean, in your case, you didn't have heat vision or anything when you first got away from Cadmus." He looks over at Mia. "You know, he's an example that no matter what your beginnings are, it's what you do, not what you are, that defines you. It's why I'm proud to call him my son." "I've seen rejects," Kon says. "I watched a guy that looked just like me go Bizarro. It's... not pleasant. You're not a reject," Superboy explains to Mia. "My situation's a bit different too because, really, if we're being technical, I'm like... 8 years old. 8 total years of solar radiation. Less than half of what any of the rest of you have." Mia hovers in the air in front of Superman as she's berated for her outburst. Or the content. Probably the content. She bites her lower lip and puts her hands behind her back, wringing her fingers a little, and nods quietly. For all the talk about being a hybrid, she's certainly easy to get down with a few well chosen words. And she looks at Kon and murmurs, "I'm sorry," to him. "I didn't mean anything bad about YOU. I mean, you're amazing and you're a hybrid. Totally not bizarre. I mean...nevermind." Clark's demeanor changes slightly as he floats over to Mia. "This is new to you. And it's pretty scary. I was terrified the first time I put this costume on. Well, not this particular one, the one that Ma made for me." Had to get rid of that red underwear. Gah. He grins. "No bad feelings here, okay? We're just trying to figure some things out. Not to mention, you've already seen that when you wear that.." He points to the crest on her costunme. "..my enemies become your enemies. They'll try to hurt you to get to me. That's why Kara is training you. To make sure it's not that easy for them." He floats back to his previous position. "So I don't want to hear anything else about any of you being rejects. Kon is right. We've seen rejects before and it wasn't pleasant." He turns to Kon. "You were going to say something in the parlor a few minutes ago. I'm curious as to what it was." "It's... hard to describe. Like, I mean, we all get a little stronger in the sunlight, so... figuring out just how much she powers up would be... hard," Kon admits. "Like, we'd need to know the base, have something to compare it to. Have you been developing these powers for a while, or was it an all at once thing?" he asks Mia. Mia aka Cir-El when in costume turns to look at Kon after Clark is done. Because there's a lot to think about, she hangs there in the air silently for a bit. But she gives Clark a little smile, wondering deep inside if maybe she shouldn't train a bit harder. Or a lot harder. Or move to an island and hide forever. But she's smiling. "Um, not sure developing them is the right term. I just popped super-strong couple months ago for no reason at all. Learned to fly a week or so ago, but Kara thinks I've been flying accidentally for weeks, and I could probably have been healing in the sun all this time. I mean, nothing's HURT me til now, so who could tell?" Clark might note that she was much colder when she was inside the fortress of solitude when he met her than she was outside of it. In the sunlight. Clark hmms and nods to Kon. "You may be on to something there. My ship crashed here when I was a baby. After a year, I had my strength. A few years after that, I had speed, but I developed heat vision, x-ray vision..etc..all of that came later as I developed. One of the last things I learned how to do was fly. And that wasn't until I was a teenager. Like around 17 or so." He looks from Mia to Kon. "Our initial assessment could be correct. You and her developed your powers much, much faster than I did. I think the hybrid factor might have something to do with it." He says to Mia. "The sun heals me too, but if I really want to ramp up my powers, I go hang out in the sun's corona. And it takes a few minutes for me to absorb enough solar radiation to get..pumped as they say." He calls it sun-dipping. And he did notice that Mia was colder inside of the Fortress than she was outside. Which was weird, cause there was heat on the inside. Superboy nods. "Sounds like... maybe your powers are just kind of making up for lost time," he points out, but shrugs. "I'd... need to basically throw you at Star labs for a bit. Still... uh... any questions for us?" Mia blinks again, her eyes widening as she thinks. Apparently a habit for when she's trying to come up with an answer to a direct question. She pauses, then takes a breath. And starts. "Oh god, do I have any questions? Do you want the short version or the short version? Has STAR labs actually found anything with my hair they took? Am I going to get smarter? You Kryptonians are all super-intelligent and I'm pretty human but I know that IQ is highly variable over time but that's pretty huge. Um, Will I still have periods? They seem to have stopped, but I can't tell for sure. What do I tell the PRESS? They've been trying to stop me and ask questions and I just ignore them but they're like little alien probes, they're everywhere! Also can either of you help me actually get a job that won't stop me from being superhero'ish because I'm seriously broke as hell and my family needs me to have a job for food and saving people is making that realllllly hard. And I want to finish school and get my degree and don't worry too much about social life, I never had one anyway and my friend Kosmos at school wants your autographs and wow I think I can breathe more air than I used to." Clark blinks, feeling a little overwhelmed. "Okay, let's take it from the top." He glances over at Kon. "Uh..Star Labs hasn't told me anything yet, so no on that. If you'll get smarter? Well, that's up to how much you study." He smirks a bit. "As for the..other thing.." He turns beet red. "..ask Kara about that." He clears his throat. "I'll let Kon field the Press question. I have no idea how to approach that. Yet." He smiles. "The job thing is easily handled. You come work for me at the Planet. We could use an assistant. And it would allow you enough freedom to keep protecting Metropolis." He then adds. "And I don't mind giving my autograph." "You'd have to ask him... ask Kara, and... well, what do you /want/ to tell them? I mean, as long as it doesn't get into secret identities, it's kind of up to you," Kon points out. "Technically speaking, I was classified, didn't let that stop me from basically blabbing." Mia wonders why merely bringing up the topic of menses is a big thing to guys. Even these guys. Well, she'll bring it up again ..periodically. She thinks, letting it all roll over her, and nods as if she actually took it all in. Which is possible but not likely. "Have to set up a meeting for the job thing. Seriously though, I'm basically clear to just tell them everything? I know you have a rep for honesty, but....actually not sure what exactly I was gonna finish that sentence with." She pauses and frowns at herself. "I might not be the best public speaker. Though nobody's ever accused me of not speaking my mind." Clark hmms. "I've always found being direct and truthful to be the best way. However, that doesn't mean you have to tell them /everything/. For example, maybe tell them you're a family member or something. Another cousin...though..wait." He frowns. "Whatever you're comfortable with, as long as it doesn't impact someone else," Superboy says, and glances to Clark. "Okay... dad... I know you've been at this longer than me, but I think we've driven the 'cousin' thing into the ground." He looks back to Mia. "If they ask where you're from. I'd just tell them what seems to be the truth. You're a human kryptonian hybrid adopted as a baby by humans and that, no, you don't know where you came from, you were a baby, and you don't have a crystal to fill you in." Mia seems to be content to wait for Clark to finish her thought til something Conner says makes her chuckle a bit. "Crystal to fill you in," she says. Heh. awesome. Ooh. Should just say that she's from the future. Daughter of Tomorrow. Press would love that sh*t. Got to stop swearing in my head, they can probably read minds too. "You've got an idea, Superman?" Clark nods. "Agreed. The cousin thing has run it's course. Though with Kara it's actually true." He sighs. "You could tell them that, but the first thing they'll wonder is where the human and kryptonian DNA came from. They're going to speculate that you might be a love child or something. Especially, since I'm actually old enough to have a kid your age." He looks from Kon to Mia. "We have future people coming to this time a lot. I have a theory on that, but I digress. Why couldn't she be from the future and just not know who her real parents are?" "Doesn't exactly poke a hole in the 'love child' problem," Kon points out. "Especially with, near as anyone can tell, Kryptonians are basically low level immortal in yellow sunlight. As for all the time travelers, the Legion will basically admit it straight up." He jerks a thumb towards Superman. "Future works, though, but if she 'knows' she's from the future, that kind of leads to follow up questions. When she doesn't really know details?" Mind-readers! I knew it! He totally said what I was thinking. Got to watch it. Not that Clark is..y'know, it's Clark. He's not the blackmailing type. I shouldn't swear though. Bad habit. Mia says, "I can deal with being from the future. It's as plausible as any other story, and you never know. I mean, I could be Kon's daughter for all anyone knows." She pauses, then looks at both of them. "I definitely have the hair and eyes for it. But if I start calling either one of you Dad in public, it'd better be the older one. Or I'm gonna squick." And calling Superman 'dad' might make me cry, but I'll adapt. Clark smacks himself in the forehead. "I'm an idiot." He looks from Kon to Mia. "Clark Kent is married to Lois Lane. But Superman is a free agent. It's completely feasible that he could have a daughter. I mean, I could have a daughter. It would explain why she's a hybrid...and she wouldn't have to answer a whole lot of questions. The main one would be..where has she been all this time. And there's a simple answer for that. She's been off training and learning how to use her powers. Her name is Cir-El. And my name is Kal-El. It fits perfectly." He looks from one to the other. "What do you both think?" "Well... clone. I mean, I'm a weird mix of DNA, but... kinda intentionally meant to look like Superman as much as possible," Kon explains. He considers Superman for a moment. "Well... maybe?" he says, and looks to Cir-El. Clark Kent adds. "It'd also leave her identity as Mia completely protected." Mia sighs. She spreads her hands, still floating in the air having forgotten to land. But she's smiling. "I'm gonna tell them that I'm from Pittsburgh and they can friggin well guess the rest." She points to the big red "S" on her chest with a wry grin. "Toooooo much to think about! Hey, can I get drunk? I want to get drunk." She's acting all of the silly. But she floats by Clark, then gives him a hug. "I gotta tell my family. Honestly, I think half the world thinks I'm your kid already, Superman. From the fuuuture!" "Probably not," Kon says to the 'drunk' question. "I shrug off pain killers." Kon pushes off of the rooftop, waving to Mia. "See you around. I'll catch you later, but I should actually go start writing that paper. Super speed only helps so much." Mia knows that feeling. Moving at super speed doesn't speed up your brain at ALL. Just makes things harder to keep track of. Clark comments, "No, you can't get drunk. Even if you could, you shouldn't." He returns the hug and then floats away. "Alright then, go. We'll talk later. Maybe we can patrol together?" Mia looks at Superman as he floats off. She's still a little stunned by the whole deal. He would make an awesome dad. I hope that he gets the chance someday. That would be nice. Maybe raise a little kid to try not to get killed and fight super-strong beings that what the HELL am I thinking?!?! If he ever had a kid, might be best to raise it on a farm or something. Cripes. A little wave hides the insanity which is Mia's brain, and she gives Clark a nod and a grin. "I'll meet you here. Got to break the news to the parentals." And do the dinner thing. And do my homework. And finish sewing my pants for school. And ... Mia waves and smiles, waves and smiles. It's going juuuust fine.